Missing Letter
by m3la
Summary: The Kira case is forced to a temporary standstill following an unexplained disappearance. Meanwhile, Light gains an unwanted roommate who claims to have no memory of his own identity. Canon divergence AU, Light may or may not still be Kira. Eventual pairing
1. Lost

" _I promise, you'll realise what I've done soon enough – there's nothing more for me to say. That's right, you already know what I'm asking of you now. So, then, let me lose it – "_

 _The fingers that trembled around a pen._

 _The eyes that saw death sentences between every neatly-ruled line on paper._

 _It was time to wait and see how this game would play out. All that was left to do was give it up -_

"– _this burdensome conscience."_

 _..._

 _.._

 _._

* * *

"You're saying you _lost_ it?"

Hitomi's shrill complaining cut in again, providing a helpful reminder of what this worthless conversation had been about. Normally, at least it was easy pretending to engage. To go through the motions.

Normally, at least it was easy pretending to give a fuck.

But it was safe to say that right now, Yagami Light couldn't so much as assume the illusion of holding a single one in his possession.

The persistent girl from the class below him hadn't quite arrived at this conclusion yet, though she was certainly set to try and bust his balls for spacing out. Hitomi's eyes were narrowed, lips pursed in like a raisin, arms folded.

 _'You lost it' -_ she said it like she was _entitled,_ unable to fathom why a guy hadn't immediately propelled himself into her wonderful personality boner-first when she'd decided to stuff her phone number into his bag and pretend she wasn't a hopeless case. Most girls were intimidated by him, to tell the truth. Most girls were quiet about their crushes, at least around Light himself. But, nope, this one just had to decide to go and give him a hard time about it.

Hitomi hissed. "I gave you my number and you seriously lost it? You're really telling me you just _lost_ it?"

Light sighed, forcing a smile through gritted teeth just for the sake of his reputation. "Yes, and I'm sorry. But as I'm sure you've guessed by now, I'm not interested."

"What?! Yagami-kun, seriously..."

"Oh! Hitomi-san!" Another girl from Hitomi's class spotted her from a distance and ran up to her, asking about some missed piece of school work. Quick to take the opportunity to get away from her, Light turned away and left, looking back momentarily only to catch a sour face glaring at him before he started down the road.

* * *

Falling into the usual routine of walking home was quick to remind Light of what was inevitably waiting round the corner.

Get home, do homework, eat, do more work, sleep, and then wake up the next morning to do it all over again. It couldn't be helped, it was life for now, until he had the chance to make something better of himself like he so hoped. And so, until then, even if it was tiring just to get out of bed and appear normal and well-adjusted to everyone around him, he just had to grin and bear it. As he continued walking, out of the corner of his eye Light spotted the figure of somebody standing on the edge of a bridge far away in the distance, felt a stab of inexplicable adrenaline rush through his veins and hurried his pace until it was out of his sight completely, trying to forget the image.

Light's eyes searched around fretfully, trying to find something, anything else to focus on, until... _Ah, wonderful. Speaking of things waiting right round the corner..._

Hitomi. Seemed like his luck had run out, because there she was in the middle of the road near a shop, talking with some of her friends. If Light tried to go past them, she'd spot him for sure, and he just didn't feel like dealing with her again today. Noticing a side road, he decided to take his chances and go that way instead, walking through the narrow stretch between two buildings.

Honestly, he couldn't stand girls like her – girls who thought they were entitled to the interest of any guy they decided to blink their eyelashes at. Though most were indeed shy around him, a few did get pushy. And Hitomi – she'd just shoved some paper with her phone number into his bag one day with a cheesy wink and ran off to brag about it to her friends, already assuming she had a chance.

People like her, who assumed the world revolved around their desires. They were just one of many kinds of people that made the state of this world so degenerated. Day after day, it was getting gradually harder to bear with the selfish actions of people who let everything decay. Walking like this every day, it was truly impossible to look around and see that anybody was happy. If people seemed so, it was because they were talking to somebody and needed to appear sociable. Alone, nobody truly smiled, or so it seemed.

And so everything degenerated, day by day.

Decaying from the inside out like an apple full of worms.

 _This world is just the same,_ Light thought to himself.

 _This world is -_

He stopped in place.

Frozen, a lump had stuck in his throat.

Light slowly ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath before continuing on. At times, he knew his thoughts and ideals sounded just like that crazy killer running around that the world had dubbed _Kira._

 _Kira, who was trying to punish such people in order to create a perfect world._

 _Kira, who was surely just as terrible as the criminals they killed... who took opposition to L, the forefront of justice, and was more than willing to kill them and other innocent people like them for the sake of a hypocritical crusade._

Light had taken an instant interest in the case, even asking if he could help with it upon finding out that the Japanese police department was involved, only to be turned down and sternly lectured by his father.

But while he certainly wanted to see Kira brought to justice, Light knew he'd be lying if he said he hadn't jumped at the idea equally, if not moreso, for the prospect, the fragile hope of possibly, just _possibly,_ the opportunity to work alongside –

 _ **Smack!**_

During his self-pitying internal monologue, Light hadn't been looking where he was going and tripped spectacularly. Falling, flailing, despite his best efforts he lost his battle with gravity and hit the ground face-first.

Hissing as he brushed the gravel off his scraped face, Light slowly got up, berating himself for not looking where he was going. After dusting himself off, he turned around to look at what he'd tripped over, glaring resentfully as if it whatever it was could have been held accountable for his mistake.

He froze. It hadn't been discarded trash at all – lying there was a person, still as a sack of bricks. At first, Light panicked, thinking the man was dead, as the first thing he noticed was the dark splotches and bruises covering his battered body. But as Light got over the initial shock and allowed himself to focus objectively, remembering his future intentions to work with situations like this, he noticed that the skin wasn't sickly enough for a corpse, and that he was indeed still breathing.

Light bent down, hesitantly pressing a finger to a pale wrist and checking for a pulse. His eyes trailed from it to the sleeve of a well-worn, dirtied white shirt, the hem of which was hiked up, revealing a skinny, bruised lower back. The man was lying on his front, face pressed into the ground. It was obscured by dark, straggly hair that was evidently dampened and frizzed from that afternoon's downpour, showing how long he'd been out here for. Light then looked up and noticed another man in the corner nearby, much more likely to be dead, with evidence of much worse wounds and limbs sticking at odd angles, bleeding from the mouth.

This would be a job for the police, but...

The disheveled man was suddenly stirring, fingers twitching, shoulder blades quivering. Light backed away as he heard a low groan and watched him push himself up onto his elbows, catching a glimpse of a white nose and lower face. Quickly, the man turned, looked at Light, and visibly relaxed after taking in his appearance. Despite his black hair he looked like a foreigner, around the age of a college student or a little more, though there was something about his eyes that made this observation seem deceptive.

Light opened his mouth, resigning himself to having to practice his English, or perhaps considering running away, but he was interrupted.

"I speak Japanese. Wait."

The man's voice was as worn as his clothing, deep as the dark bags that aged his eyes. Light closed his mouth. Flawless pronunciation, too. He probably had it somewhere in the family, whether half or otherwise. He sat up with some struggle now, wincing in pain. "I wasn't sure if I'd wake up again. At least they're gone." The man noticed the other unconscious stranger in the corner and hesitated. "Ah. I'm guessing he's... well. Not the best start for me..."

 _Did he really...? Had he really...?_ With those unhealthy-looking bags and sickly skin, this guy looked like some kind of drug addict or homeless person. Well, or both, which was entirely possible. And he'd obviously got in a fight...

Now that he was sitting up, Light's eyes were drawn towards a dark mark against his dirtied white shirt. Near the middle of his chest there was a gash that had split through the fabric, stained with dried blood.

"I was attacked," the man said, sensing Light's apprehension; his palpable disdain for someone he'd perceived as a probable criminal, the kind of people he'd just been damning. Light felt bad for judging him like that and relaxed a little, but retained some suspicion just in case he was lying. "Fortunately, I turned out to know how to defend myself and they eventually left me after they found I didn't have anything they could take. That man – he's... well, dead, probably, and it's not going to do me any favours now, but..." the man looked up at Light with softened eyes. At least it was obvious enough that he was sober. "...I need to ask you something slightly strange. Listen, do you happen to know me?"

 _Slightly strange_ was an accurate description, to say the least. There wasn't any clear evidence of a head injury that Light could see, but there was no way to know for sure. He blinked, pausing momentarily to consider the bizarreness of what he had just been asked. "...No," Light replied, brows furrowed in confusion, "Do _you_ not know you?"

The man tilted his head, placing a thumb to his mouth. Despite his unnerving appearance, there was a strange aura he seemed to give off. Was it because unlike his usual daily interactions with those he knew everything about, Light understood next to nothing about this person? It was like being confronted by a human puzzle-box. That face was unreadable, and it was only natural it would throw him off when he was used to looking at someone and seeing through them like they were made of glass.

"Well, you see, it's a funny story. To which the answer is, in fact, _no._ I also know that it's very unlikely for anyone to believe me about it. But... I -" the man tried standing up, winced and nearly collapsed. Light rushed over despite himself and prevented him from falling, letting himself be leaned on.

But there was no time to wait for thanks, because a muffled noise in the corner followed by the thudding of limbs on the ground told them the man in the corner had woken. They both whipped their heads round at the same time to see him getting up up to his feet and shouting obscenities.

Light felt the body leaning against him shake and a hand grip his back tightly. "Shit. I can't fight him anymore, not like – _quick_ -"

They ran, the man holding on and running alongside him as fast as he could. But Light felt the other's grip slowly slacken and they came to a halt as he nearly dropped him. Light cursed under his breath - he'd passed out. Now forced to pick the man up to the best of his abilities, which turned out to be little challenge, Light blindly continued on the second he heard those hurried footsteps start up again behind him. They managed to lose their pursuer for the time being and, seeing no other choice, Light rushed to his house the second he saw the door. Sayu was there, having just got home herself, and she cried out when she saw what was going on.

"No time to explain," Light hissed. He heard the beginnings of hurried footsteps again and panicked all at once. "I - think I have to bring this guy in."

They rushed in and, with some hesitation, Light laid the unconscious man down on the couch after kicking off his shoes.

"What happened? Who is he?" Sayu asked, blinking at the strange man. "When Mum gets home..."

"He'll have to go to the police anyway," Light explained. "There was some guy chasing us, so we had to run."

He found himself drawn again to check if the man was still breathing, which, thankfully, he was. Hopefully he wouldn't get any dirt on the couch, or their mother would be pissed off later. "This man... I'm not sure if it was true but he claimed... something like to not know his own identity. I don't know, but something's wrong in any case."

It certainly was weird. Light knew that there really were cases of people having amnesia in real life, but it was extremely rare. And if this man was being truthful, then he was really quite unfortunate, to put it mildly. He certainly didn't seem to be lying, but then again, there wasn't a lot that Light could gauge from his guarded expressions at all – nothing other than genuine confusion and puzzlement.

Sayu was staring at the strange man intently, a frown on her face. He was lying with his back to them, facing the inside of the couch. "Nii-chan, are you sure it was okay to bring him in? He looks kinda weird... You sure he's not just a homeless guy?"

In one swift movement, the man rolled over and affixed her with a piercing glare. "That's rude."

"Wahh! He's awake!" Sayu jumped back with a shriek, and even Light himself suppressed a flinch, moving in front of his sister unconsciously.

Carefully, the man lifted himself up onto his elbows and pulled himself into a sitting position, kicking off his shoes. Light heard his joints crack and winced – his posture was absolutely terrible. He sat hunched over, one knee drawn up to his chest and the other limply planted on the floor.

"I was awake for the past minute." The man chewed at his thumb, surveying the room around him. "Now that I've determined the chance you're a family of flesh eating cannibals to be less than three percent, I may as well get up."

Sayu seemed to be shaken out of her daze and was now wide-eyed in fascination. "You know Japanese, Hobo-san?"

'Hobo-san' tilted his head. "I speak English, French, Spanish, Russian, ten Chinese dialects, Pig Latin, actual Latin, and five other languages with fluency as well as thirteen more to a conversational extent. This includes Japanese."

Sayu was amazed for a second or two before her skeptical side got the better of her and she puffed out her cheeks. "I bet you don't."

Light himself wasn't too convinced either. "Well, if he does, then he can prove it. Can't you?" he challenged.

The stranger grinned.

And after a good few minutes of being proved utterly wrong, both stared in wonder. Sayu started jumping up and down, eyes sparkling. "Whoa! You might be even smarter than Light!"

Light almost flushed at this, annoyed that his sister's loyalties had so quickly swayed. "That's enough of that," he told her, faking a casual tone with a smile. He then quickly changed his expression to a more serious one, turning his attention back to the man on the couch. "What did you mean earlier?" Light asked in English, watching with secret pride at Sayu brightening again as he delivered the line with perfect intonation.

The strange man grinned impishly in response, wide black eyes glittering. "You mean before that man tried to attack me again?" He replied, also in English, with an accent different from the standard American that Light's school used to study with. It wasn't a good idea to guess if the ease with which he spoke meant this could be his native language, however, since he sounded just as fluent with his Japanese.

"Wahhh! You guys are talking too quickly, I don't know what you're saying." Sayu frowned. "But this is so cool!"

Light decided he'd prefer to continue this conversation in private whether Sayu could understand him or not. She would undoubtedly be a distraction. "Sayu, don't you have homework you need to be getting on with?" He reminded her with a sly smile. "I know you didn't hand in that maths test last week and got your deadline extended. _Hobo-san_ and I need to have a little chat."

Sayu pouted, slumping down dejectedly. "But you guys are so _cooool,_ and I wanna hear Hobo-san talk even if I can hardly understand!" Light raised an eyebrow, folding his arms, and his sister groaned, rolling her eyes. "Aww... fine." Sayu gave up at last and left the room.

The two of them were left alone, and he turned back around. The man was chewing on his fingers rather intently and rather unhygenically. "I apologize if I'm overstepping my boundaries," he mumbled around his thumb, "but may I have some tea?"

Light eyed the man with slight suspicion, but supposed it had more or less been proven that he didn't seem to be dangerous. Despite that, though, it would still be suicidal to drop his guard around a stranger like this, especially one who apparently possessed the self defense abilities to do what he had.

"I'll get you some," Light replied with as pleasant a smile as he could manage. His mum would be pissed at the stains that guy would undoubtedly be leaving on the couch.

"Black, please, if you have it. With milk, and bring sugar."

Light went into the kitchen and soon returned with a tray, glad to see that the other had apparently not moved since he left, though he did seem to be still looking around. Light set it down on the coffee table and watched as the man opened up the sugar pot.

Light watched, expecting him to put in a teaspoon or two... But he picked it up. The whole thing. Somehow, Light managed to hold his tongue as the stranger tipped it over his cup and let the sugar flow out like a waterfall. After two seconds Light blinked, at five he stared incredulously, at eight his polite facade was just about ready to collapse in on itself and at ten, _at last_ at ten, the pot was empty and the man set it down, smiling proudly at his... _concoction._

Light cleared his throat very audibly. "Are you..."

The man stared at him blankly.

"Well," Light blinked. _"Okay...?"_

"Hm?" Silvery clinking sounds rang out as the man started stirring his tea around.

Light smiled then - the kind of smile you give a toddler who's just jumped in a puddle of mud and rendered their best clothes unsalvageable. "Your head, I mean. I understand something's gone wrong, judging by what you mentioned earlier."

"Oh. Yes, that's certainly true," the man replied. "But, I assure you, aside from the complete and utter loss of just about anything regarding my identity, I am quite alright," he continued as he took a sip of his sugar with tea and sighed in satisfaction.

Light felt his lunch complaining.

"In fact, I've never been better. I don't know who I am, I'm functionally homeless and own nothing but the clothes on my back, and even then my only shirt is effectively ruined, but somehow a nice cup of tea just makes me forget about all of that."

"You realise, of course, that it's a little hard to trust your word on this."

The man tilted his head, tapping at his lip thoughtfully. "Amnesia does not correlate with rate of sugar consumption. Well, unless it does, since there is at least a three percent chance that I could have been a nutritional biologist. But I think, even considering this," his eyes drew away from the ceiling and met with Light's again, "we can both agree that would be very silly."

"I see." Light decided to pour himself some tea. Out of the corner of his vision, he noticed Sayu standing in the doorway holding her test and grinning at them, and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Oh, come on!" Sayu pouted, caught red-handed. "Why can't I talk to him? If you can, then it's not fair! And I don't wanna do my test..." she walked over to the table. "Hobo-san has no memory? Isn't that kind of thing completely fake? To really not remember a single thing about yourself, like in a movie..."

"I know that there's no way I can prove it," the man told her. "In fact, I've mainly been thinking right now of ways that I can. I haven't been very successful."

Sayu then turned to Light, smiling sheepishly. "Well, actually, I did come over here for a reason... Nii-chan, I'm stuck on this question here..." She pointed to a page of her test.

Light sighed. "Sayu, I'm kind of busy, but I guess I can help you..." It didn't take much thought to explain the answer, and his sister nodded after he did so, getting a pen out to write it down. But she was quickly interrupted as long pale fingers reached over and snatched it away.

"Actually, that's wrong." Black eyes shot his way accusatorily, and Light had to double-take to make sure this was really happening. "You thought too quickly.", the stranger chided, Sayu blinking as if a pig had just whizzed past her eyes. "Here, it's actually like..."

The stranger proceeded to write out a correction and prove the mistake.

Sayu giggled, looking at the paper. "Looks like my genius brother's found his match."

Light felt his face burn again, forcing himself not to look at the other. Just who was this guy, who looked so young and seemed even more intelligent? At least if that number of languages was seriously truthful...

Light certainly wouldn't doubt this guy to lie out of his pasty ass.

Sayu decided to get pushy. "Hey, Hobo-san, can you help me some more...?"

And so it went on from there – Light was unable to get a word in edgewise. He had to sit there and suffer in silence, watching that spidery hand scribble down answers as easily as breathing air. The man's dark eyes were focused completely on the page.

If he really was being truthful... then he seemed like some kind of recluse. Unless whatever government he was hired by told him to go out looking completely plain...

Alright, so perhaps that wasn't so realistic. More plausibly he could be a college student, considering his apparent age. Most likely a foreign student here on a temporary exchange program.

"Seems Sayu's found a new brother," Light teased his sister, nudging her.

"Aw, don't say that. At least you don't look like a hobo, nii-chan." Sayu laughed. "

The man rolled his eyes in response. "I'd be offended if I weren't indeed genuinely homeless. Of course, I don't know if I own property or -" The sound of the front door slamming shut made him cut himself off.

Everyone was deathly quiet as footsteps padded down the hallway.

"I'm home! Light, sweetie, I hope you're ready to show me last week's test results! And Sayu, I got that limited edition jelly trifle with strawberry custard and vanilla-a- _a-a...!"_ There was a shriek as Sachiko strolled casually through the living room door and caught sight of the disheveled 'guest' with a bloody gash sitting like a gargoyle on the recently-cleaned couch.

"Oh... Oh my."

The stranger perked up attentively, completely unfazed.

"...Strawberry custard and vanilla _what_ now?"

* * *

"So, according to Yagami-kun, you claim you have no memory of your identity... and additionally, we haven't found anybody who looks like you in our criminal databases."

The rushed explanation and subsequent drive to the police station had been, to put it mildly, awkward, but at least now they were getting somewhere and Light wouldn't be resigned to hearing his sister whine about how much smarter than him this homeless guy was.

The man was sitting in his usual impolite way, one knee drawn up to his chest, on a chair in the interrogation room. Along with the chief, who was trying his hardest not to be too disapproving about the whole situation, there was a rookie officer in charge of the questioning who Light vaguely remembered from his past experience in helping with police cases. He'd been reintroduced as Matsuda, and then he recalled what that vague remembrance had been based on – which was being, perhaps to put it _kindly._.. a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

Recalling past events, the still-unidentified man looked up at the ceiling, tapping a finger against his mouth. There was something in his body language, however, that seemed a little more closed-off this time – the leg let down in a relaxed position continually twitched and moved, but he would notice and stop himself from letting it move periodically. The leg that was drawn up was pulled close to his chest, and he chewed at his thumb more than usual. Why? Did he have something to hide? Surely he would be glad at the prospect of rediscovering his identity and getting his life back on track. Which made Light consider the possibility that he'd been lying this entire time.

"My memory goes back to before he found me, but not very far. The first thing I remember is waking up on a certain street somewhere. My head hurt, and I had this wound," the man responded after some careful consideration, pointing to the gash on his chest. "I was confused. I had no possessions. I started wandering around, trying to get my bearings. I wasn't familiar with the area. Later, I was attacked by a group of four men who attempted to mug me. I defended myself to the best of my ability, knocking one of them out, and they left me alone once they found I didn't have anything. But because of the injuries to my head I sustained, I blacked out. And then, when I woke the second time, Yagami-kun found me. From there, you have his account."

Matsuda was taking notes, trying to keep up with the things the man was saying. "Got it. I see..." He stopped scribbling and turned his attention back to the other end of the table. "So, there really is nothing you remember about yourself? Not a single thing? Nationality? Age? Name? You can't even remember something like that?"

The unidentified man's blank expression in response to that question did nothing to prove Matsuda's hypothesis. He placed a thumb against his mouth, dark eyes unfocusing, which Light now instantly knew meant he was concentrating hard.

"My name... I can't quite..." The man tilted his head to one side, worrying his lip with one hand. But his fingers froze and his eyes widened in momentary realization, and Matsuda leaned forward expectantly, mouth hanging open in surprise – seriously? He was just going to take everything at face value? He must've had _some_ strength in the workplace... Most likely making coffee.

The man continued. "You see, in fact... Now that I think about it, I'm almost certain... it begins... with _'L'_." He tapped at his mouth, trying to think harder, but it seemed nothing else came to him. "...That's about all I can remember, no matter how hard I think."

Matsuda was the one who froze this time. He was just sitting there, jaw practically on the desk, eyes bulging like he'd just realized the meaning of life. And then, nearly knocking his chair over in the process, he jumped out of his seat. "W-wait a second! Chief!"

"What's the matter? He didn't say anything strange, Matsuda."

"I-I... It's related to something that can't be discussed in here. Can we go outside for a moment? Of course, Yagami-kun will need to stay in here too..."

The look he received was dubious, but after a little more convincing, the two eventually left the interrogation room, shutting the door behind them. Light could see them talking through the glass window.

* * *

"Matsuda, what _possible_ relevance could the Kira case have to this right now?"

Despite the glass being soundproof, Matsuda was trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible, looking around as if some ridiculous black-clad Kira ninja was about to spring out of nowhere and eavesdrop.

"H-he said his name begins with 'L'!" he whispered. "D-do you think it could be..."

Soichiro blinked incredulously, adjusting his glasses. "Matsuda... what are you getting at? You're not seriously trying to say -"

Matsuda seemed to disbelieve his own idea as well at this point, but wasn't giving up just yet. "It could be like some kind of code! That's just the feeling I got, but..."

"L contacted us today as usual. Don't you remember? This man was found unconscious! And moreover, he has been that way since at least one entire day. Do you really look at him and think someone like that could really be...?"

"But according to Yagami-kun he's some kind of super-genius! Remember?"

"Matsuda, enough of this! He's just a very unfortunate man, intelligent or otherwise. Of course, we'll need a medical examination, brain scans – he'll need to go to the hospital. Now, enough wasting time with this, let's go back."

* * *

"The ceiling has thirty-four tiles," the man said abruptly.

Apparently, just being left alone together in silence hadn't been awkward enough. Now there was going to be small talk.

Light swallowed. Seriously, did this guy always have a total of zero social graces whatsoever? "You're that bored?"

The other turned around and looked at him. "Are you perhaps able to see the wall through my face?"

Light blinked. "...No."

"Oh." The man frowned. "I was wondering how I managed to be so transparent."

Light held in a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "...And you're _sure_ there's nothing wrong with your head."

"Yes, but as you mentioned earlier, Yagami-kun, my word cannot be taken at face-value. I suppose that will be found out once I go to the hospital like they're probably planning."

There was another silence after that. The clock in the corner of the room ticked, echoing in the enclosed space. The man remained still as a statue as he stared right through him.

"Yagami-kun."

Light replied after some hesitation, trying to will away the nerves prickling the back of his neck. "Yes?"

"I don't want you to lie to me."

Ice pierced his stomach and seeped through his joints like a disease.

The man continued. "When I asked you earlier if you happened to know me, I wasn't doing it simply on the off-chance that you would."

Light felt as if he was the one being interrogated now; as if he was sitting in the other's position, faced with those empty eyes and voice. The man was staring at him, unblinking, unflinching.

"What do you mean by that?" Light managed to reply, hiding his unease to the best of his ability.

"What I mean is that somehow, I felt like I al-"

The door opened and the others returned. The man quickly stopped himself. Light found he was still staring back until the sound of his father's voice drew his attention.

"Light, you can return home now. Don't let this take up any more of your time; I know how busy you are. Thank you for coming in to provide your testimony."

Light closed his eyes and nodded. It felt like it had been a long day, and his head was aching a little. "Glad I could help, Dad."

Before he turned to leave, he caught the man still staring at him in the corner of his vision, the feeling of black holes boring into his back never truly leaving even as he left the building.

* * *

 **Finally started writing something new ;u; I'm now capable of writing long chapters it seems! :'D Unlike last time, though, I haven't finished everything in advance, so updates will be slower, sorry. .A. In any case I hope to improve a bit compared to my first attempt ;u;**


	2. Found

**Sorry about ch1. I agree that it wasn't all that realistic. I think I'm always just too invested in writing something non-serious/mostly silly. But I didn't want to rewrite it. In case anyone wanted to see it continue, though, I decided to finish ch2. I hope it's okay. I guess I should mention that it's mostly just going to be kind of ridiculous, since that's the kind of thing I like writing. Sorry about the plotholes/general idiot-ball holding, I really feel dumb for not thinking things out more when I was planning. I realise that I made mistakes and** **got pretty embarrassed.**

 **This one is kind of the same unfortunately. I'll try and improve.**

* * *

A rational explanation could not be found for this.

The room had clearly been abandoned. Tea with only five sugar cubes dropped in; unstirred, the presumed sixth left a small distance away from the pot along with the teaspoon set down by the side of the cup. Untouched, though not undisturbed work; no progress made.

Watari knew these signs of absentmindedness well.

At some point, L had decided to leave, most likely spontaneously. The only problem was the decision not to send a message notifying him of it, which L would most certainly have done had he wanted to go out alone somewhere. The reception desk reported no one matching his description spotted leaving, although if he'd truly wanted to keep his little excursion a secret, it was hardly a mystery as to how he could have managed it.

At some point, he'd disappeared without a trace, and at this time could be anywhere.

Disappearing without a trace. But regardless of what had happened, there would be time later to give priority to worrying about L's potential motivations. Right now, it was time for Plan B.

(As unfortunate as that term now was.)

Roger had been _ _...Surprised,__ to put it mildly, at the call. Trying to excuse the unclear terms of your failure this early into the investigation and requesting the default to the pre-prepared emergency backup plan was... very awkward to word.

...

"What? _Did... I hear that correctly?"_

"Unfortunately, yes. L has... disappeared."

 _"Let me guess, then."_

"The Kira case is not one that can be opted out of. I fear we have no other choice."

 _"You want me to speak with them. Unfortunately, only one is available right now. Fortunately, it's not Mello. I'll have him informed by tomorrow."_

"I'm glad to hear it. Let me just repeat that I have absolutely no idea what happened – it's a complete mystery. But I will admit that he was acting... strangely at times, prior to this incident. And the state he left the room in... However, that is neither here nor there. It rests on myself to try and find him now. I'll look forward to working with his successor in his place."

 _ **Click...**_

 _ **..**_

It mostly paid to suspect the worst.

Nothing is ever as bad as your instinctual, irrational fears, and therefore, when the truth is revealed, no matter what it is, it will always be better than the terrible things you first imagined.

It mostly paid to suspect the worst, but this time, Watari didn't want to even consider it.

* * *

A rational explanation could not be found for this.

It started when Light was sitting in his room, in the middle of doing some homework when his mechanical pencil ran out of lead. He clicked the end, but it was empty. So then, he'd reached for a new one and clicked it – but again, nothing came out.

Normally, this would not raise any sort of suspicion in his mind. But for all Light's many talents, off-the-wall paranoia was his most understated.

That pencil in particular was the one he used for the lead signal in his door to alert him to anyone that had been inside his room. He would usually break small parts off in regular amounts, and last he had checked, there had been enough left for one more - or so he thought.

A rational explanation could not be found, but an irrational one was happy to pet the dog and make itself at home.

Light got up and checked his door. The paper slip was still in place, and so was the lead. Furthermore, there was no broken one on the floor. So, therefore – logically... _rationally,_ it was most likely that this fear was... unfounded.

But even as he returned to his desk and tried to blot his overactive imagination out with mindless work, that little thought, that little paranoid voice just wouldn't stop nagging him.

As he tried to think of ways to distract himself, the door swung open and Sayu rushed in. "Hey, nii-chan! Dad has something he wants to tell you! He just got home!"

* * *

"This may not affect us, but I just wanted to be careful."

Sayu and Light had been sat down for this, a solemn pause reminiscent of the interrogation room stretching across the table.

"The man you found yesterday... escaped. He claimed first that he would accept police custody, but he escaped sometime during the night. How, exactly, is a mystery. Multiple cameras were found dismantled or disabled, and nobody claimed to have seen him. And so, it goes without saying that he must still be out there."

Light tried to tell himself that this incident and the previous were just a coincidence.

Upon returning to his room, he continued on with his work, but looked inside the closet just to be safe. No one there.

He really did feel silly, now. Being so paranoid surely wasn't healthy -

But then again, neither was being dead.

* * *

The days were somehow getting even colder now. Gradually, Light forgot about the news of the escape as he caught back up on Kira case news, though information sure seemed sparse recently.

He forgot about the pencil lead. Everything had gone back to normal.

At least, until now.

Deciding to go get a drink, Light was quite happy not being paranoid in that moment until he froze to the spot, confused. Sayu was standing by the opened fridge, assaulting him with the most demonic glare he had ever seen on her face. She didn't say anything, though, and he decided to shrug it off and continue over to make himself some coffee. There was only just enough left for one more cup.

Sayu soon joined him, turning on the kettle and making herself a cup of hot chocolate. It was still very cold outside, after all. "You better not steal any of my marshmallows, nii-chan," she chastised, sticking her tongue out and pulling the packet of them from the cupboard.

"You know I'm not addicted to sugar like you, Sayu."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really now? I wouldn't have guessed."

And with that, Light was left utterly baffled as she left the room with her mug.

* * *

Even with some caffeine in his system, it was still hard to concentrate as the clock ticked on later and later. Deciding it might be easier to work if he was more comfortable, Light moved over to the bed and brought the book he was meant to be annotating with him. Writing down notes when he didn't really need them was tedious, but he had to get it done regardless.

There was a soft _thud_ as Light dropped his pen and heard it roll under the bed. Sighing in annoyance, he reached down to try and get it, but found it must have gone too far. So then he bent down, hanging over the edge and peered underneath.

The pen was there. Held loosely between two long, pale fingers, accompanied by eyes that gleamed in the dark like headlights.

"Here's your pen," a low voice rumbled.

Light reached his hand down and took the pen. "Thank you," he replied.

He then slowly sat up to the position he had previously been in on the bed.

Light allowed a few seconds to pass before practically jumping off and crouching down beside it, grabbing underneath and yanking whatever his blindly grabbing hands could find – something that elicited a pained gasp, his fingers digging into dirtied fabric – an arm.

"Out! Get out of there!" Light snapped. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He knew the other wasn't in any sort of shape to attack him – hopefully, at least.

The man hissed, trying to resist as he was pulled, eyes widening in pain as his chest dragged along the floor over his gash. "Sto-" he gasped, before crying out louder as his leg twisted oddly. "Agh... Stop..."

"Then get out by yourself," Light grumbled, "and bring an explanation with you."

Slowly the man crawled the rest of the way, gasping and shutting his eyes every time his leg moved. He had to move it using both of his hands, eventually sitting up, careful to leave it lying flat on the floor.

"I knew something was up..."

"And I knew I couldn't hide myself forever."

The man looked terrible, and that was an understatement, because he'd looked terrible in the first place as it was. His bruises were all discoloured, and he was lucky nothing was infected. Some blood had seeped through his jeans where his leg – it must have been broken. The bags under his eyes looked even worse, and now he was covered in dust from being under the bed.

"I need to stay here. That's all I ask for. So long as no one else finds out."

"So you really are some kind of criminal and you were lying all along."

"No, I... couldn't stay in police custody like that. I couldn't be out in the open. They would send me to a hospital and undoubtedly put my face out there, everywhere in order to find my identity. And I couldn't risk it."

Light blinked. "What? But that's what you-" The man interrupted him. "There is one thing that I remember. Just a feeling. But a strong one. One that I'm ninety percent certain concerns my life."

There was a pause as he stopped himself there, possibly waiting for Light's reaction. He decided to let the man finish and said nothing.

"Someone, _something,_ is looking for me. It's hunting me down. There's no other option for now other than to hide." The man fumbled around in his pocket and pulled something out, holding it up. "Look at this."

It was... a pen, oddly-shaped with a blood-stained nib. "I lied when I said I had no possessions. I found this near to where I woke up the first time. This thing is what made this -" he pointed to the gash on his chest. "You can tell by the shape – I'm certain of it. This is my only lead." Another pause, shorter. "...While you were out, I used your computer and did as much research as I could. I checked universities and colleges and foreign exchange programs, I checked missing person reports. Nothing. I found nothing that could be related to me."

Taking in all this information, Light exhaled slowly, still suspicious.

"All I ask is that you let me stay here until I know I'm safe to move. To put it frankly, I'm alone, scared, homeless... and very willing to do your English homework in exchange for chocolate buttons."

Light narrowed his eyes. "Bribery, huh?"

The man frowned. "It doesn't have to be chocolate buttons."

Light stared at that bloodied leg. It wasn't like he could kick the guy out like that. But, more importantly for now at least, he had a question to ask, and deciding whether to let him stay could wait till he'd found out the answer.

"Alright, Hobo-san."

"Hobo-san?" The man tilted his head. "Technically, I have a home now. It's the underside of your bed, Yagami-kun. Can I call you that? Or maybe Light-kun, since we're clearly best buddies now. I'll have to introduce you sometime to my spider friend Davis."

Light stared.

"Well, you have to stop talking to yourself eventually under there."

"...Yagami-kun will be fine."


End file.
